JF the reticulated python had her health check yesterday, requiring eight zookeepers to hold all 7 metres of her in place.
How do you give a health check to a 7-metre-long reticulated python (the largest snake breed in the world)? With great difficulty.
Staff at Chester Zoo had to work together in a team of eight to handle the snake, named JF, as she had her annual health-check this week, including an ultrasound.
JF really is a very long reptile.
Chester Zoo
She weighs about 60kg and could well be the longest in Europe.
Academics from Cardiff Metropolitan University carried out the ultrasound as part of an ongoing animal cardiology study.
Pythons' hearts have three chambers, unlike human ones, which have four.
Chester Zoo